Louis Lefebvre
 Professor of Biology and Program Director,
Minor in Science for Arts

Address: Department of Biology, McGill University
1205, avenue Docteur Penfield, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1B1 Canada
tel: (514) 398-6457
lab: (514) 398-6567
fax: (514) 398-5069
Email: louis.lefebvre@mcgill.ca

Program Director for the Minor Concentration in Science for Arts Students Program

BIEN QUE CE SITE SOIT EN ANGLAIS, VOUS POUVEZ COMMUNIQUER AVEC MOI EN FRANÇAIS (ANCHE IN ITALIANO)

 



Research interests: Animal behaviour: learning, cultural transmission in birds, feeding innovations in Barbados
Education: B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D. (Psychology), Université de Montréal.
Research training: Laboratorio di Neurofisiologia del CNR, Pisa (with Giancarlo Carli); Animal Behaviour Research Group, Department of Zoology, Oxford University (with Richard Dawkins); chimpanzee laboratory, Université de Montréal.

Research summary: The non-genetic means by which new behaviours originate and are maintained and transmitted in animal populations is the focus of my research. Innovations, learning and cultural transmission are studied in the field, in captivity and with data from the literature. Most of the research is on birds; field work is conducted on nine avian species out of the Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University, Barbados, and on feral pigeons in Montréal.

Articles for non-specialists | Other Interests

<---- Download Innovation data base
  Cite any use of the database as  Overington, S.E., Boogert, N.J., Morand-Ferron, J., Lefebvre, L. (2009). Technical innovations drive the relationship between innovativeness and residual brain size in birds. Animal Behaviour, 78, 1001-1010.


Publications



2009
  • Iwaniuk, A.N., Lefebvre, L., R.W. Wylie, D. R.W. (2009). The comparative approach and brain-behaviour relationships: A tool for understanding tool use. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 150-159.
  • Overington, S.E., Cauchard, L., Morand-Ferron, J., Lefebvre, L. (2009). Innovation in groups: does the proximity of others facilitate or inhibit performance? Behaviour 146, 1543-1564
  • Overington, S.E., Boogert, N.J., Morand-Ferron, J., Lefebvre, L. (2009). Technical innovations drive the relationship between innovativeness and residual brain size in birds. Animal Behaviour, 78, 1001-1010.
2008
  • Sol, D, Bacher, S., Reader, S. M., Lefebvre, L. (2008). Brain size predicts the success of mammal species introduced into novel environments. American Naturalist. 172, S63.S71
  • Lefebvre, L., Sol. D (2008). Brains, lifestyles and cognition: are there general trends? Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 72, 135-144.
  • Overington, S. Dubois, F. Lefebvre, L. (2008) Resource unpredictability drives both generalism and social foraging: a game theoretical model. Behavioral Ecology, 19:836-841.
  • Boogert, N.J., Giraldeau, L.A. Lefebvre L. (2008). Song complexity correlates with learning ability in zebra finch males. Animal Behaviour, 76: 1735-1741.
  • Marino, L., Butti, C., Connor, R.C., Fordyce R.E., Herman L.M., Hof P.R., Lefebvre, L., Lusseau, D., McCowan, B., Nimchinsky, E.A., Pack, A.A., Rendell, L., Reidenberg, J.S., Reiss, D., Rendell, L., Uhen, M.D., Van der Gucht, E., Whitehead, H. (2008) A claim in search of evidence: Reply to Manger's thermogenesis hypothesis of cetacean brain structure. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 83, 417-440.
  • Raes, A., Lefebvre, L., Jordaens, K. (2008) First report of fishing in the European Blackbird Turdus merula. Acta Ornithologica, 43, 231-234.
  • Lefebvre, L. Petits futés! L’innovation comme signe d’intelligence. Québec Oiseaux, v.20 (2), 2008, pp. 10-14. (Invited cover article for 20th anniversary issue).
2007
  • Sol, D., Szekely, T., Liker, A., Lefebvre, L. (2007) Big-brained birds survive better in nature. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274: 763-769.
  • Bouchard, J, Goodyer, W., Lefebvre, L.(2007) Innovation and social learning are positively correlated in pigeons. Animal Cognition 10: 259-266.
  • Marino, L., Connor, R.C., Fordyce R.E., Herman L.M., Hof P.R., Lefebvre, L., Lusseau, D., McCowan, B., Nimchinsky, E.A., Pack, A.A., Rendell, L., Reidenberg, J.S., Reiss, D., Uhen, M.D., Van der Gucht, E.,Hal Whitehead, H. (2007) Cetaceans Have Complex Brains for Complex Cognition. Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology, v. 5,  e139, pp. 966-972.
  • Morand-Ferron, J., Sol, D., Lefebvre, L. (2007) Food-stealing in birds: brain or brawn. Animal Behaviour 74: 1725-1734 (featured on Faculty 1000 and Animal Behaviour In Focus section: The Mind of a Thief, by Michael Breed, p. 1065).
  • Morand-Ferron, J., Giraldeau, L.A.,  Lefebvre, L. (2007) Wild carib grackles play a producer-scrounger game. Behavioral Ecology 18: 916-921.
  • Morand-Ferron, J., Lefebvre, L. (2007) Flexible expression of a food-processing behaviour: determinants of dunking rates in wild Carib grackles of Barbados. Behavioural Processes 76: 218-221.
  • Giraldeau, L.A., Lefebvre, L., Morand-Ferron, J. (2007) Can restrictive definitions lead to biases and tautologies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30: 411-412.
2006


Photo: Guy L'Heureux, Image Centre, McGill University
  • Lefebvre, L. (2006). Social intelligence and forebrain size in birds. In: J. Kaas (Ed.) The Evolution of Nervous Systems, Vol 2. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 229-236.
  • Lefebvre, L., Reader, S.M., Boire, D. (2006) The evolution of encephalization. In: J. Kaas (Ed.) The Evolution of Nervous Systems, Vol 1. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 121-142.
  • Marino, L., Sol, D., Toren, K. and Lefebvre, L. (2006) Does diving limit brain size in Cetaceans? Marine Mammal Science 22(2): 413-425.
  • Morand-Ferron, J., Veillette, M. and Lefebvre, L. (2006) Stealing of dunked food in Carob grackles (Quiscalus lugubris). Behavioural Processes 73: 342-347.
   
2005
  • Sol, D., Elie, M., Marcoux, M., Chrostovsky, E., Porcher, C. & Lefebvre, L. (2005) Ecological mechanisms of a resource polymorphism in zenaida doves of Barbados: the importance of competitive exclusion.  Ecology 86: 2397-2407.
  • Sol, D., Lefebvre, L. & Rodríguez-Teijeiro, J.D. (2005) Brain size, innovative propensity and migratory behaviour in temperate Palearctic birds.  Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 272: 1433-1441.
  • Sol, D., Sterling, G. & Lefebvre, L. (2005) Behavioral drive or behavioural inhibition in evolution: subspecific diversification in Holarctic Passerines.  Evolution 59: 2669-2677.
  • Sol, D., Lefebvre, L. and Rodriguez-Teijeiro, D. J. (2005) Brain size, innovative propensity and migratory behaviour in temperate Palaeartic birds. Proc. R. Soc. B. 272: 1433-1441.
  • Griffin, A.S., Savani, R.S., Hausmanis, K. & Lefebvre, L. (2005) Mixed-species aggregations in birds: zenaida doves (Zenaida aurita) respond to the alarm calls of carib grackles (Quiscalus lugubris). Animal Behaviour 70: 507-515.
  • Griffin, A. S. and Galef, B. G. (2005) Social learning about predators: does timing matter? Animal Behaviour 69: 669-678.
  • Sol, D., Duncan, R. P., Blackburn, T. M., Cassey, P. and Lefebvre, L. (2005) Big brains, enhanced cognition, and response of birds to novel environments. PNAS 102: 5460-5465.

2004

2003
  • Nicolakakis, N., Sol, D., Lefebvre, L. (2003). Behavioural flexibility predicts species richness in birds, but not extinction risk. Animal Behaviour 65: 445-452.
  • Lefebvre, L., Bouchard, J. (2003). Social learning about food in birds. pp. 94-126: in The Biology of Traditions, ed. by D.M. Fragaszy and S. Perry; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Reader, S.M., Morand-Ferron, J., Côté, I., Lefebvre, L. (2003). Unusual feeding behaviors in five species of Barbadian birds. El Pitirre 15: 117-120.
  • Nicolakakis, N., Sol, D., Lefebvre, L. (2003). Behavioural flexibility predicts species richness in birds, but not extinction risk. Animal Behaviour 65: 445-452.

2002
2001
  • Lefebvre, L., Juretic, N., Timmermans, S., Nicolakakis, N. (2001). Is the link between forebrain size and feeding innovations caused by confounding variables? A test of Australian birds and North American birds. Animal Cognition 4: 91-97.
  • Webster, S., Lefebvre, L. (2001). Problem-solving and neophobia in a Columbiform-Passeriform assemblage in Barbados. Animal Behaviour 62: 23-32.
  • Seferta, A., Guay, P.J., Marzinotto, E, Lefebvre, L, (2001). Learning differences between feral pigeons and zenaida doves: the role of neophobia and human proximity. Ethology 107: 281-293.
  • Reader, S.M., Lefebvre, L. (2001). Social learning and sociality. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24: 353-354.
  • Lefebvre, L., Reader, S., Webster, S. (2001). Novel food use by gray kingbirds and red-necked pigeons in Barbados. Bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s Club 121: 247-249.
  • Goldberg, J., Grant, J.W.A., Lefebvre, L. (2001). Effects of the temporal predictability and spatial clumping of food on the intensity of competitive aggression in the Zenaida dove. Behavioral Ecology 12: 490-495.

(Photo: James Mountjoy)
2000
  • Lefebvre, L. (2000). The origin and cultural transmission of feeding innovations in birds; pp. 311-328 in: The Evolution of Cognition, ed. by C.M. Heyes and L. Huber; MIT Press, Cambridge MA.
  • Timmermans, S., Lefebvre, L., Boire, D., Basu, P. (2000). Relative size of the hyperstriatum ventrale is the best predictor of innovation rate in birds. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 56: 196-203.
  • Sol, D. and Lefebvre, L. (2000). Behavioural flexibility predicts invasion success in birds introduced to New Zealand. OIKOS 90: 599-605.
  • Webster, S., Lefebvre, L. (2000). Neophobia in the Lesser-Antillean bullfinch, a foraging generalist, and the bananaquit, a nectar specialist. The Wilson Bulletin 112: 424-427.
  • Nicolakakis, N., Lefebvre, L. (2000). Forebrain size and innovation rate in European birds: feeding, nesting and confounding variables. Behaviour 137: 1415-1429
The 1990's

(Photo: Yves Médam, Interface, 1999)
  • Lefebvre, L., Gaxiola, A., Dawson, S., Rozsa, L., Kabai, P. (1998). Feeding innovations and forebrain size in Australasian birds. Behaviour 135: 1077-1097.
  • Russon, A., Mitchell, R., Lefebvre, L., Abravanel, E. (1998). The comparative evolution of imitation; pp. 103-143: in Piaget, Evolution and Intelligence, ed. by J. Langer and M. Killen; L. Erlbaum, Hillsdale N.
  • Lefebvre, L., Helder, R. (1997). Scrounger numbers and the inhibition of learning in pigeons. Behavioural Processes 40: 210-207.
  • Lefebvre, L., Whittle, P., Lascaris, E., Finkelstein, A. (1997). Feeding innovations and forebrain size in birds. Animal Behaviour 53: 549-560.
  • Lefebvre, L., Templeton, J., Brown, K., Koelle, M. (1997). Carib grackles imitate conspecific and Zenaida dove tutors. Behaviour 134: 1003-1017.
  • Hatch, K. K. and Lefebvre, L. (1997) Does father know best? Social learning from kin and non-kin in juvenile ringdoves. Behavioural Processes 41: 1-10.
  • Carlier, P., Lefebvre, L. (1997). Ecological differences in social learning between adjacent, mixing populations of Zenaida doves. Ethology 103: 772-784.
  • Carlier, P., Lefebvre, L. (1996). Differences in individual learning between group- foraging and territorial Zenaida doves. Behaviour 133: 1197-1207.
  • Dolman, C., Templeton, J., Lefebvre, L. (1996). Mode of foraging competition is related to tutor preference in Zenaida aurita. Journal of Comparative Psychology 110: 45-54.
  • Lefebvre, L., Palameta, B., Hatch, K.K. (1996). Is group-living associated with social learning? A comparative test of a gregarious and a territorial Columbid. Behaviour 133: 241-261.
  • Lefebvre, L., Giraldeau, L.A. (1996). Is social learning an adaptive specialization? pp. 107-128 in: Social Learning in Animals: The Roots of Culture, ed. by B.G. Galef, Jr and C.M. Heyes; Academic Press, New-York NY.
  • Lefebvre, L. (1995a). Culturally-transmitted feeding behavior in primates: evidence for accelerating learning rates. Primates 36: 227-239.
  • Lefebvre, L. (1995b). The opening of milk bottles by birds: evidence for accelerating learning rates, but against the wave-of-advance model of cultural transmission. Behavioural Processes 34: 43-54.
  • Lefebvre, L., Giraldeau, L.A. (1994). Cultural transmission in pigeons is affected by the number of tutors and bystanders present. Animal Behaviour 47: 331-337.
The 1980's
   

Articles for non-specialists

  • Lefebvre, L. (1996). Raging Dove. Natural History 105 (12): 34-37.
  • Lefebvre, L. (2001). L’intelligente cervelle des oiseaux. La Recherche (Paris) 347: 42-45.
  • Lefebvre, L. (2002). El inteligente seso de los parajos. Mundo Cientifico (Barcelona) 230: 46-49.
  • Lefebvre, L. (2007) Les oiseaux banals. Québec Oiseaux, v. 18(3), pp. 46.

Autres intérêts/Other interests

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Livres/Books

 


[updated Dec. 10, 2009]

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